Tuesday, May 8, 2012

The Golden Swan

There was once a mighty hunter who lied in Laos. He
was a good husband and a kind father, and he looked after his family well. In
fact, he was such a good hunter that people called him the chief Hunter. People
knew he was a very lucky man.

Everything about the chief hunter’s life was
fortunate. His childern always had food. His wife could trade the birds and
animals be caught for the best rice in the village. They had the best cloyh to
make their clothing. Life were rich and happy for the chief hunter’s family.
Then one day the chief hunter hurt himself while he was hunting. He came home
to his wife, and he said, “what’s wrong? Your face looks pale, and you are
moving so slowly. What happened?”

“I don’t know” the chief hunter said wearily. “I feel
very sick. Let me lie down.” So he went to his bed, and his family nursed him
devotedly and watched him with great care.

At first the chief hunter seemed to get better, but
then he slipped back. He died a week later. His widow grieved terribly. She missed
her husband, and she did not know to live without him. The family became poor,
and it was difficult to find enough food to eat. The childern often cried when
they went to sleep because they were hungry. The widow could not sleep because
of her worries and sadness.

One night, as the poor widow was slee[ping restlessly,
she heared her husband’s voice. “I have come back to help you”, the voice said.
The widow sat up and looked around. She knew she was dreaming, and in her dream
she went outside. A large swan spoke to her with the chief hunter’s voice. “I
know how hard it is for you”, the swan said in the chief hunter’s voice. The
widow was happy to her husband’s voice, yet sad because she knew it was a
dream.

The words stuck her throat so she could not speak. The
swan stood in the moonlight and said, “I wish I could be here with you” then it
came closer. She could see that many of its feathers were made of gold, in the
moonlight it seemed to be a golden swan.

The golden swan said in the voice of the chief hunter.
“go to sleep now. In the morning you will know this was a special dream” so the
widow put the feather beside her bed and went back to sleep. She slept so well
and deeply as if her husband were still alive.

When she woke up she remembered yhe dream and looked
for the golden feather. There in its place was money and gold. The women was
very happy and latershe went to the
village and bought food and clothing. She was careful not to spend too much.

The widow was wise with the money, but then there was
a little left, and she began to worry. Would the golden swan come back again?
On the day she spent the last coin, she felt alone again just like when she was
first a widow. The golden swan come bac k to her, and she took a larger feather
than before. The golden swan flew away, and the widow dreamed on and planned
what she could do with the money.

The next day, sure enough, there was an even larger
pile of gold and coins. The widow laughed and gave her children a little money
to buy food in the market. When she went to find people who ran the gambling in
the village. She was sure she could double her money.

“I would like to famble”, she said “will anyone play
with me”

“do you have any money?” the gambler asked.

She let the gamblers see part of the gold. The game
started that moning, and by nightfall the widow had no money left. She went
home, angry and depressed. On the way she thought of a plan.

“my husband wiil be angry when he finds out how I lost
the money”, she thought. “if I had a lot of money, I would not to need to ask
him for more”

That night as she was lying down, she waited for the
golden swan to come. He came as usual and offered his feathers. This time she
plucked all the golden feathers she could find. She didn’t care how much she
hurt the swan. She was greedy. The widow put the feathers into a pile by her
bed so that she could see them as soon as she woke up. “such a large pile of
feathers should turn into a lot of money” she thought.

The next day morning she woke up and looked for the
money. All she found was a pile of dull dead swan’s feathers.

That night the widow was afraid
to fo to sleep. But at last she didi. The golden swan come to her in her dream
and said “I will necver come to help you again. You do not deserve anything
from me, and you now you must look after yourself” then the golden swan flew
away and never returned.